The Next Decade: Tale of Siwang Hu
by Timbit the Lynx-Angel
Summary: Hai, Po and the Furious Five are back in a new epic adventure! Hai started the New Millennium, so who is going to start the Next Decade? And... What is Siwang Hu and who is this Black Sin? More importantly, what is the connection between them and Hai?
1. Difficulties

Hello, thanks for tuning in. What you're about to read is the sequel for my fic _Kung Fu Pirate: New Millennium._ This is a new story with a new enemy (Or should I say _enemies_...?), new hero, new OCs, new mission and last but not least: A new POV. Yes, we won't get the story from my original character Hai's point of view, since I feel like I should practice a little on writing as a personality who isn't like me at all; most of my main OCs are based upon myself, so in order to be able to make characters that aren't, I decided to do this story a little differently. Actually, we won't see that much of Hai, so if you liked him, I'm sorry... :/

So anyways, I'm glad you guys took the time to check out my story! If you like it, you can leave a review as always - feedback is greatly appreciated! So, this was a pretty long Author's note, so what do you say we get on with the story! :)

* * *

We all dashed through the forest as we chased after the bandits. It was Fung and his minions who had been up to no good again. They had been stealing a lot of stuff from the village, and when we came to fight them off, they had made a run for it – cowards. I had been telling Hai a lot of times that releasing all those prisoners from Chorh-Gom was a bad idea. But of course the stubborn little lynx only thinks that whatever he does is right.

As a Kung Fu Master who had been trained with discipline all my life, seeing a sassy and sassy pirate with no respect for anything come into our palace, was a strange thing. I didn't know why Master Shifu had decided to let him stay – I mean a year ago he had gotten a task to fulfill and he had failed. But Master Shifu still let him stay here.

Hello, my name is Tigress and I'm, as you might have guessed, a tiger and also a Master of the Tiger Style Kung Fu. I live in Jade Palace in the Valley of Peace along with my family – my friends and my Master.

First there is Monkey. He is the heart and soul of our team; always ready to crack a joke about something or someone, and he is a Master of the Monkey Style Kung Fu. He is covered in orange fur and he wears dark red pants and leathery wristbands. He has a long, strong tail, and the only place, where his body isn't covered in fur, is his face.

Next there is Viper – the motherly character of our group. She's a viper and a Master of the style of the same name. Whenever someone feels distress or discomfort, she's always the one to help fastest. She has a very caring nature, and she will always ask in on you if you seem to have problems – I would know that. She is covered in yellow scales all over and has darker patterns on her back which resemble Chinese writing for some reason. Other than Kung Fu, she's also really good at cooking and ribbon dancing.

Mantis is easily the smallest of the team, due to being a Mantis. But this doesn't mean that he can't be a tough foe – Mantis Kung Fu is fast and very quick moving, so any newbie should never try to spare with him as their first opponent, even if he went easy on them. He is covered in green outer skeleton and wears robes around his tiny legs. He's also really good at acupuncture (Unless you're too 'big').

If you'd think of our group as a body, then of course the group also has a brain – Crane. He is a crane and Master of the Kung Fu Style of the same name, based off of balance and accuracy. Crane is of course covered in feathers – mainly white, but also black on his neck, around his wings and on his tail feathers. He wears a pair of dark blue pants and usually also a straw hat and various rings around his long talons.

The two newest members of the group are Po and Hai. I think we start off with Po as he came before Hai. Po is a panda and the biggest out of all of us. He came to Jade Palace as a spectator for the Dragon Warrior Tournament a few years ago, and at first we all rejected him and the fact that he was a warrior of such a high status; he was lazy, loud, unserious, childish and in really bad shape. But soon he proved to be the true Dragon Warrior as he defeated a powerful opponent and saved the Valley. Being the Dragon Warrior, he uses his own improvised style.

As mentioned Po is big and covered in black and white fur, but he also has a big heart and truly is a good person. He doesn't act arrogant in any way about being the Dragon Warrior (He does tend to get somewhat cocky sometimes) and wears a pair of old, simple pants.

Lastly there's… Hai. He is the newcomer and while I represent the dedication, Monkey the good mood, Viper the loving care, Mantis the serious personality, Crane the perfectionist nature and Po the happiness and excitement, Hai is… everything else. He would easily represent the treacherous and untrustworthy nature as he does whatever he wants at all times. Also, he is a pirate. He has grown up to become a pirate, but as Viper says, he is something more. He has proven to be quite the hero at some times and he's even the Millennium Warrior – a title even more honorable than the Dragon Warrior title.

Hai is just like Po was when he got here – just far, far worse. He rarely trains, always gets up too late, always stuffs his face and never takes orders from anyone – even Master Shifu, our mentor. Hai is a (The) little lynx and is covered in light brown fur all over with black stripes and spots here and there. He wears a blue vest and black pants. An outfit that is strikingly similar to mine, except a few differences. Oh well, we might as well get back to the afternoon it all started.

Fung and three or four minions ran with their stolen supplies as Hai, Po and I followed them. The plan was to chase them through the forest and then Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey would block their way when we got through the forest. But of course one of us went ahead and forgot to use his brain.

Hai suddenly put all his power into his legs and sprinted fast through the forest and in an instant he was right behind Fung. Just as I yelled for him to back a little down, Fung and his minions suddenly jumped aside. The forest started parting and as Hai was moving with too much speed, he failed to stop and ran a little further until he finally stopped. Just as he started to run back towards us, he was jumped by four dashes of fur, feathers and scales.

"Get off me!"

"Hai? What are you doing?" Viper asked confused as she had ensnared his entire torso. I sighed and slapped my forehead and Po simply sighed. Of course Hai would somehow forget the entire plan and ruin everything. Po and I quickly started chasing after the crocodile bandits, but they easily made their way past Hai and the others, as they had caught him. I quickly dashed after the nearest bandit, but suddenly they all threw something at the ground and suddenly an explosion of smoke swallowed me up.

I coughed and quickly covered my mouth and nose with my hand. The smoke was thick and it hurt my eyes too, so I quickly closed them shut. I could hear the others cough, even though I did my best not to. I opened my one eye slightly to see a silhouette a little in front of me. I was sure that it was Fung or one of his minions and went to get him. But as I grabbed this other person, I could feel fur instead of scales.

Soon the smoke disappeared and I saw that it was Monkey I had grabbed onto by his throat. I coughed a little and so did the others – especially Monkey. I quickly let go of him and we all turned to Hai.

"What?" he asked as if it wasn't his fault at all.

"Uh, you just ruined the plan, Hai," Monkey said. "That's what."

"Me? I was just trying to get him?" Hai said, trying to defend himself.

"Yet you still went ahead without thinking," I pointed out. We had all agreed on the plan, and Hai had even been the one to bring up the fact that we could ambush them. So why'd he have to act so recklessly? "I thought a plan was a plan."

"Sure," Hai said carelessly and waved it off with his one sword. The other sword was in the one sheath on his back. "Besides, they haven't gotten that far – they're right over there!"

We all looked and saw the five crocodiles run towards a mountain area a few hundred meters away. We immediately chased after them and I saw Hai pull the other sword out of its sheath through the corner of my eye. He probably just wanted to have some, what he called fun, and probably didn't even care about the stolen supplies.

Suddenly he threw the sword in his right hand against the crocodiles. Somehow he was able to make it swirl in the air in a spiral motion, and somehow it swept the legs of all three reptiles away.

They fell to the ground and dropped everything they were carrying. The various stolen items were scattered all over the ground and as we got closer, we were about to attack them, but the cowardly reptiles decided to flee instead. We couldn't catch up with them and I sighed.

If it wasn't for Hai's goof-up earlier, we'd be able to get them and send them back to Chorh-Gom… Wait, maybe he did it on purpose! Think about it: he used to be a criminal just like they were! Besides, he was the one who let them out of Chorh-Gom!

"Looks like you succeeded," I told him in my calmest voice. He didn't seem to understand, but then I said: "You let them get away."

"Are you saying that I did that on purpose?" Hai hissed at me. It was rare to hear him speak like that, and it also surprised me quite a bit. "Just because I'm a pirate?"

"Guys, guys," Po said in a calming voice and made the tension in the air vanish. "They're gone and the stolen stuff is right here. Let's just get it back to the village, okay?"

"Hm, whatever," Hai muttered as we all started picking up the stolen items. It was mainly food and such, but it didn't seem to have taken damage from being dropped.

* * *

"Thank you, thank you," the many villagers said to us when we had finally brought back all the stolen supplies. They had been stolen from various people who sold different stuff at the village's marketplace – Fung and his minions had just appeared and taken everything that was within reach. The villagers had been defenseless against the big crocodiles, but when we finally got down to the marketplace, the reptiles had fled.

"You're very welcome," Po said in his usual excited and eager voice as we helped the villagers put the stolen items back to where they had been before. After a few minutes of carrying stuff around, we were finally done and everything was back to normal. The sun had almost gone down and the night fell. The villagers started packing their re-obtained stuff and call it a day. Suddenly I heard something out of the corner of my ear; Hai asked for payment.

"What?" I growled at him, which immediately seemed to scare him a little. The villager he had been talking to immediately walked away quickly, as if he hadn't had anything to do with it.

"I just think we should also get some benefits out of being..."

"We do," I interrupted him. "Helping others isn't something that you should always expect material payment for. You can't call it a good deed if you expect something in return!"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I did something wrong... _Tingju!"_ Hai hissed back at me.

He... he just called me a... I clenched my fist and kept my anger inside. I knew that he tried to simply make me angry, so that he could get around the argument that was to follow.

"If you think that's how the world works, maybe you should just go back to where you came from," I hissed at him, even before realizing what I had said and how strongly I had said it.

"Fine, if that's really what you want!" Hai growled at me.

"Fine!" I growled back at him. I was getting tired of Hai's way of acting as egoistically as he did. When he disappeared a year and a half ago, I had actually missed him, but now I had been reminded why I really didn't like him when we first met. Maybe it was just his pirate nature, but he was acting so selfish that it could make you sick.

The little lynx turned around and left the marketplace in a very angry manner. He had also spent quite some time away from the palace lately, so I guessed he might be seeing someone else who he found more to his liking than Po and the others… or me for that matter.

I crossed my arms and turned away in a random direction, trying not to look at the others. I could feel how they watched me and I could almost sense how they wanted to say something to me – especially Viper. Of course she wanted us all to get along… unfortunately it couldn't be so with Hai around. Viper is too much of a worrywart sometimes.

And I was pretty sure that Po also disliked my arguments with Hai. The big panda was one of the closest friends I had in the group, so I was sure he would try to cheer me up… one silly way or another.

Mantis, Monkey and Crane on the other hand, didn't look like they wanted to get involved in it and probably thought that it was a smart idea to keep their mouths shut – which I could only agree on.

"He's just so narcissistic," I finally sighed and broke the silence. I could feel how the others were still looking at me, but they still said nothing. "Why can't he see?"

"You know how he is," Viper said, eventually breaking the silence. "He only sees what he wants to see."

I knew she was right, but I still said nothing. In whatever way Hai's brain worked, I didn't think I'd ever figure it out. Besides, tomorrow was another day, and he would surely be back again soon. Tomorrow the argument would be forgotten and we'd be alright… at least I hoped so…

But Hai didn't come back. The next day he was nowhere to be found around the palace, not even around the Village. Po, Monkey and Viper had gone looking for him while Mantis, Crane and I stayed behind and did our usual training. I had just finished a little sparring match with Crane when the three returned… with no Hai.

"He's not anywhere in the village," Viper informed us.

"Yeah, he wasn't even in my dad's restaurant," Po elaborated. He sighed and then said: "I wonder where he went…"

I tried to think for a few seconds. The Valley of Peace was kind of isolated from everything else, especially the sea, so it was hard to figure out wherever that lynx had gone. Maybe he just needed to clear off his mind. And whenever I tried to clear off my mind I always went to…

"I think I know where he is," I told the others. "The Peachtree of Heavenly Wisdom."

"You think?" Mantis asked a little skeptical. "How come?"

"I think she's right," Crane told Mantis. "It's a little away from the village, there's a tree you can sleep up against and there are peaches to eat."

"Good point," Viper agreed. Suddenly I saw Master Shifu exit the Hall of Warriors. Our old Master barely seemed to have noticed Hai's lack of existence, and probably just thought that he was still sleeping – either that or he enjoyed having no chaotic pirate around. He continued onto the barracks, obviously to wake Hai up – if he had been there of course.

"We should go look," Viper said and eventually she and I ended up going. We left the palace grounds and walked into the mountains behind it. As mentioned, I had often come to the tree to clear my mind, and I knew just how calming and comforting it was to just sit there and look out on the valley view.

We had barely been walking for more than a few minutes when Viper asked me: "Why is it you acted like that?"

"Like what?" I asked her, having absolutely no idea about what she was talking about. Maybe it was the fact that I wasn't too busy looking for Hai like she was. I don't usually show my feelings, so maybe that was what had given her that idea.

"Like you really don't like Hai," she told me. I sighed on the inside, since I knew she was right. I had also been kind of hard on him lately, I'll admit that. But there was just one part of me that enjoyed arguing with him somehow… I was sure at least one part of him felt the same way too.

"I… I just think he has a too egoistic way of thinking," I finally sighed. "I mean, yesterday he wanted payment for helping the villagers…"

"Tigress... It's Hai we're talking about," Viper reminded me. "He _is_ egoistic, but that's simply who he is… no one should change how they truly are…"

I listened to her words in silence, even though I disagreed greatly. You should always live up to titles such as the Millennium Warrior, which probably was the finest title you could ever get in the world of Kung Fu. I had discussed this with myself so many times before, but I always got back to the same point: Hai was selfish and he'd _never_ change.

We finally reached the Peachtree of Heavenly Wisdom, but there was no Hai. It didn't look like anyone had been there for a while, since there were many peaches on the tree, and if Hai had been here, he most likely would have eaten half of them.

I sighed. "I guess we should just wait for him to come back."

"But what if he doesn't?" Viper asked. I shrugged. It was very hard to believe that one out of a hundred arguments really could make him so angry that he'd leave Jade palace for good. I knew that it was kind of my fault, but I knew that Hai would always turn good again sooner or later – he always did.

"He does," I told her. "I'm sure."

* * *

But we waited for several days without hearing a word from the little lynx. Po and Crane both assumed that he had gone back to his father, the pirate captain. Who knew, maybe he had actually been happy sailing with his dad for a year and a half… maybe he even _wanted_ to become a pirate for real. Well, Hai about that; we still had a village to protect.

One day when the six of us sat in Mr. Ping's noodle shop and ate a quick lunch, the old goose came with a suggestion that somewhat startled me a little: "Perhaps it's because of what you said… I mean, even _he_ can get hurt."

I fell quiet and looked down at my plate of tofu. Maybe I should just have realized that Hai was Hai and that he was just acting through instinct. Now he was gone, and it was all because of-…

My trail of thoughts was interrupted when a sudden dash of feathers landed in the restaurant. It was Zeng, a little goose who has various jobs, for an example he sometimes works as a messenger, which obviously was, what he was today.

The gray little goose wore his usual yellow robes with black trims and he was carrying a scroll of some sort.

"An important… message from… Master Baozhai," the little goose said while gasping for air. Obviously he had been very busy and been flying as fast as his small wings could carry him.

Po took the scroll and we all moved over and read over his shoulder. I really didn't know what to expect. Maybe Hai had gone back to his criminal ways and maybe she had captured him – she _had_ a bounty hunter past after all.

"Dear fellow Masters, please be aware that evil has started moving out again," Po read out loud for us. "Several Masters have already been attacked and the troops are getting closer to your position. Be careful, but don't alert the villagers too soon – they might panic. Baozhai."

We all looked at each other with astonished faces. This was just like what happened a year and a half ago! A guy named Zhu had created his own army and used it to attack and try to exterminate Kung Fu Masters all over China.

We looked downwards to face Zeng, but he was already gone. Obviously he had another job to finish. But we did see some sheep by one of the tables. They looked horrified and had obviously heard Po read the letter. Before we could do anything, they rushed out of the restaurant, and next thing we knew, all we heard panicking villagers.

"Master Shifu won't be happy about this," Monkey said as the other guests in the restaurant left too.


	2. Unexpected Events

When we entered the Hall of Warriors, we were surprised to see that Master Shifu was seemingly ready to head out – I was sure that Zeng had shown him the letter as well.

"Master Shifu, are we going to fight them off?" Po asked and went straight to the point.

Our old Master nodded. "Yes, this time we won't flee. Besides, backup is on its way."

Backup? Did he mean that he somehow had contacted other Masters and asked them to come help us? Nonetheless, it'd be nice with some help if another army came to attack us again. Master Shifu then told us that the villagers would most likely leave to get to safety again, just like that other time, and-…

"Po!" We all jumped in surprise as the name echoed all throughout the Hall of Warriors. We turned around and saw Mr. Ping. The little goose hurried over to Po and started rambling. "Po, son, we have to go! There's an army coming and… and... and..."

"I know dad," Po said in a calming voice, trying to calm down his father. "But Shifu, the Five and I are going to stay and fight them…"

"No Po! What if they're a thousand? And they probably have weapons, and…"

"Don't worry Mr. Ping," Crane told him, trying to calm him down too. "We won't fight alone; some more Kung Fu Masters are coming to help."

This seemed to calm down Mr. Ping a little, but he still took the time to tell Po to be careful and not get hurt… and of course to remember that Mr. Ping would most likely go back to Shan City.

As soon as Mr. Ping had left the hall, Shifu told us to go get Hai's swords from his barrack. Hai uses Wood Sword Style to fight, and yes, he also uses wooden swords. _His_ particular swords are incredibly solid, and I haven't seen anything that was even close to breaking them.

Crane and I entered the barracks and walked down the hallway and entered Hai's room. The room looked like it usually did; there was Hai's bed, the wanted-posters of us on the wall (Yes, we had all been wanted at one point, but that's another story.) and the note I once wrote to him… in that note, I had told him to do what he felt was right and… now it only felt painful to think about it.

But there were no swords in the room. We even looked under the bed, but there was still nothing. Of course Hai wouldn't go anywhere without those swords. They were originally given to him as an insult, but they turned out to become his most valuable belongings.

We quickly returned to the Hall of Warriors to tell Master Shifu that they were gone.

"Hmm… Strange," he just said in a somewhat mysterious tone of voice.

"What's strange?" Viper asked.

"Last time I went to check, they were there," our Master replied. That meant that Hai must have been back at some point! But how had Hai been able to sneak inside without us noticing?

Suddenly we heard some noise coming from the outside. The six of us hurried outside, and we could hear that the noise came from the village – the army had arrived already.

With no words and without hesitation, we hurried down the long staircases to encounter the attackers. When we arrived in the village, we ran against the stream of panicking villagers who hadn't fled yet. We came to the marketplace and stopped as we saw the attackers close in… and were in for a shock.

The attackers were a squad of forty people or so, but who they were, was what shocked us the most. For the most part they were… wolverines and vultures – seemingly the same we had fought a year and a half ago when we first met Hai. But there were also some crocodiles, seemingly some of Fung's minions. And last but not least, there were gorillas and wolves – seemingly those who had been part of Lord Shen's army!

Why were they together? Three different types of bad guys that never should join forces… besides, they had fought against one another during the Millennium War!

They all wore the same armor; black armor with the word _Siwang Hu_, which means _Death Ark_, written on their chest armor. I didn't know what this Siwang Hu was, but certainly not good if it made villains join forces.

We took on our usual battle stances, which felt odd without Hai standing between Po and I. But eventually the six of us rushed into battle.

Po and I took on a group of five or so wolverines and about six or seven wolves. We had fought them before, but it felt so wrong to see them together; it was like mixing two different words to make a gibberish – just like the time where Po and Hai tried to figure out how to combine 'Awesome' and 'Epic' into one word.

I blocked the first wolverine's wooden club as he tried to attack me, then slammed it away and kicked him in the stomach area. The next wolverine came to attack along with a wolf. I used both my hands to block their wooden clubs – one from each of them. I then jumped into the air and hit both of them with a spin kick. When I landed, another wolf tried to attack me with his wooden club. I jumped forwards and slammed it out of his hand and then punched him in the face. Then two wolverines tried to attack me at the same time with a body slam. I jumped aside, and as they tried again, I punched one of the stomach and the other in the face, both at the same time.

Two wolves and a wolverine tried to attack me, but suddenly someone else hit them with a midair kick. It was Weifeng, a member of the Storm Clan who lived in a forest a few kilometers away from the Valley of Peace. With them, we might have had a chance of winning! You see, they're not only Kung Fu Masters, but also specially trained ninjas!

Weifeng is their only female member and she's a deer. She has brown fur with just a hint of red and she wears green and brown robes, so she can easily blend in with the forest environment she lives in.

A few more wolverines and wolves were about to attack her, but suddenly a powerful gust knocked them out. You might think it sounds weird, but it also takes a much trained eye to see what really happened. Luckily I was just barely able to see what happened.

Just as the wolverines and wolves were about to hit Weifeng, Jufeng and Fengbao dashed in. Jufeng is the leader of the Storm Clan and is an eagle with dark brown feathers, while Fengbao is a black panther and the calmest member of the group, mainly because he's mute. They both wore the same outfit as Weifeng, like always, and here's what happened:

The two dashed forwards at an incredibly high speed, then did various punches and kicks when they got close enough to the soldiers, quickly knocking them out. If you didn't have a trained eye, it would have looked like there had been an explosion in between the soldiers actually. I looked over to look at Weifeng, but she was gone. Then I looked around to see that a similar thing happened to the other soldiers as all four ninjas went into action. When the many soldiers were all knocked out, the four ninjas landed in the middle of the marketplace and soon walked over to us.

"Are you okay?" Jufeng asked us. We all nodded. "We were contacted by this little Zeng-guy… pretty fast for someone who isn't a ninja… oh, anyways; we were told that Shifu had sent him to get some backup against those dummies."

"Yeah, but you ELIMINATED them!" Po said in his usual excited voice. The four ninjas just chuckled and thanked him. Suddenly a dash of feathers nearly hit Feng. Feng is the smallest and youngest of the Storm Clan and a duck. He has plain white feathers and is barely taller than Zeng. Despite the fact that he's just a child, he's almost as good as his teammates when it comes to fighting.

The vulture landed on the ground where he was joined by even more soldiers – far more than earlier! Even with the Storm Clan by our side, it would be hard to fight all these soldiers.

We lined up – all ten of us – and then charged into battle. I took on a group of crocodiles this time. I took on the first, delivered a few punches in his chest, then one powerful punch that sent him backwards. I then went on to the next crocodile and hit him in the face with a double spin kick.

Suddenly something hit my arms and ensnared my wrists – a chain. The crocodiles tried to drag me away, but I put all my powers into my arms and yanked them backwards, thus making them fall over. I got a hold of the chain and used it to ensnare around five or seven soldiers. I made sure to bind it tightly and as I went on to the rest of the soldiers, Po made sure to knock them all out.

I kicked a wolverine in the chest, then punched a vulture in the head when he tried to tackle me midair. As we all fought, we quickly got the upper hand. The soldiers might have been superior in number, but we fought with technique – that was why they wouldn't be able to defeat us.

But as we were fighting off the wolverines, someone suddenly knocked me aside with a powerful kick. I rolled on the ground for a brief moment, but quickly got to my feet again to see who it was.

"Who are you?" I growled at the newly arrived opponent. She was a clouded leopard, having pale gray fur with darker brownish gray spots on her face, arms and tail. She wore a dark blue vest with black trims as well as brown pants. She also had a black headband on, and obviously she did like me and wore other robes under her clothes, to hide her 'feminine' body parts.

Suddenly four other clouded leopards rushed in and attacked my teammates. They all wore seemingly the same outfits and then I recognized them. They were students of Junjie and he called them the New Furious Five. Junjie is a Kung Fu Master, who has had quite a few conflicts with Master Shifu in the Past. Mainly it was because Master Oogway decided to let _our_ Master take over Jade Palace instead of Junjie. This only led to a grudge and Junjie has tried to get rid of Master Shifu and us before, so that he could take over his place here in Jade Palace.

"A member of Siwang Hu," she replied as she and her teammates lined up with the rest of the soldiers behind them. Suddenly I noticed the silver colored badge on their headbands, with the name 'Siwang Hu' written on it in gold. "We're here to eliminate you."

"Wait, so Junjie is really going to try again?" Po asked somewhat annoyed, somewhat innocently. He probably couldn't tell that Junjie seemingly had nothing to do with this, since these were all villains we had faced in the past, and that this Siwang Hu was, what had brought them together in an alliance.

"I don't think it has anything to do with that," Monkey pointed out as we all lined up to form an opposing line.

"Correct," one of the other clouded leopards replied. Suddenly they all charged forwards and attacked us once again. The Storm Clan took on the soldiers, while Po, the others and I fought against Junjie's students – one against one, except the girl; I fought against her alongside Viper.

I attacked her with two punches at the same time, which she blocked, then unexpectedly, she kicked me in the stomach, making me fall backwards. I landed on my back, but before the clouded leopard could attack me again, Viper sent her flying sideways with a powerful strike.

Soon after, both Viper and I fought against the clouded leopard and she was pretty good actually; she seemed to have an easy time blocking and dodging our attacks, but we also managed to stay unharmed by her, so it was a very equally matched battle.

Suddenly someone hit me; it was Monkey, who had been sent flying by the student of Junjie he had fought against. Soon we were joined by Mantis, Crane and Po, who also had suffered defeat, from the clouded leopards.

"Guys, this is bad," Po pointed out. I looked over behind the clouded leopards. The Storm Clan seemed to have a pretty tough time against the many soldiers, but at least they did better than we.

Suddenly the sound of harp music filled the air. We all slowly got to our feet and looked around while everyone listened to the sound of the harp. Where did it come from? And who could play a harp so powerful that it sounded like it was everywhere? Suddenly it started raining – not water like it usually would have, but cherry petals – small, pink petals like those you often see during the spring. Everyone started staring into the sky as that was seemingly where the countless petals came from. Soon they all started swirling around, somewhat creating a whirlwind in between us and the Siwang Hu members. Just as the music started to intensify, the petals were blown away and a person we didn't know appeared.

He was a dragon – yes, a dragon. He was covered in light red, almost pink scales, had white deer-like horns and black hair and beard. His eyes had a venomous green color that almost seemed to shine and he wore a Kung Fu jacket, which was black on the right side and white on the left, split by a thin line down the middle, and to finish it off, it had pink trims that matched his scales.

"You…" he said as he pointed at the Siwang Hu members, thus finally breaking the silence. "... are not needed in this world – this world should be purified and free of vermin like you."

I looked over at Po and Monkey, who stood beside me. They caught my gaze and they both looked truly lost, and so did everyone else. I then looked up forwards at the dragon and saw him take a step towards the Siwang Hu members.

"Who do you think you are?" one of Junjie's students asked with a growl. "You shouldn't get in the way of Siwang Hu; we'll destroy…!"

"You cannot destroy me!" the dragon interrupted him in a rather arrogant tone. "No one can defeat Chikasha Tiandao; for I am the world… and as long as the world exists – so will I!"

Suddenly one of the soldiers, a crocodile, charged him. The dragon jumped forwards and hit him in the head with a kick, knocking him down. Next thing we knew, all the Siwang Hu members attacked him. He seemed to be very calm about it, but as soon as the nearest gorilla reached him and tried to punch him, he simply brought up both hands and blocked the gorilla's enormous punch.

The gorilla seemed to be surprised, but one second later, the dragon had lifted him up, swung him around and smashed him against the ground. We could almost feel the vibrations in the ground due to the gorilla's massive weight, and I couldn't help but wonder about how long it had taken to practice that technique to perfection – I could tell that it was a matter of technique and not just strength, since he didn't seem to be much stronger than, let's say me.

The next few soldiers attacked and with great easy and agility, the dragon dodged most of their attacks and gave back with powerful punches and kicks.

"Who is he?" Viper asked as we watched him fight. Suddenly the wind started blowing as the dragon kept fighting. It was weird – not only was a _dragon_ fighting before us, but this wind also seemed to be unnatural somehow – unreal or artificial actually.

"I don't know," Po spoke in an excited voice. "But I love his moves! You go dude!"

The dragon seemed to ignore Po's cheering and kept fighting as if we weren't even there. He performed a series of very impressive kicks and punches and soon the soldiers fled like the cowards they were.

"This isn't over yet," one of the clouded leopards growled as they all fled. "Siwang Hu will be victorious!"

* * *

And Chikasha has appeared! He is one of the new OCs for this story, and will replace Hai for now (NOOOOOOOOO!). So I hope you guys will like him, despite how much of a jerk he is, but... character-development, anyone? So as always, thanks for reading, I hope you liked this chapter and that you'll stay tuned for more! See ya'!


	3. A Spoiled Dragon

"Who are you?" I asked the dragon once the Siwang Hu members were gone. We were walking up the staircase to Jade Palace and he seemed to keep the same cool attitude the whole time, and had just as many facial expressions as a statue. "And why did you interfere?"

"Because you were in distress," he replied, agilely avoiding my first question. Why didn't he want to answer? He had already proclaimed his name during the fight, but I didn't quite remember, what it was. So why not just tell us?

"We could have handled it ourselves," Feng muttered, sounding somewhat like he didn't even want the least bit of help. But without the dragon, we probably _would_ have lost the battle. I could clearly tell that the Storm Clan didn't really trust him and I couldn't really fault them for that.

"Now, now, no need to be cocky," the dragon told Feng with a rather arrogant tone of voice – the kind that makes you not want to be around those who use it. "As Yishu once said: every little rain drops need one another to make a flower blossom."

"Wait, you mean _that_ Master Yishu?" Weifeng asked suddenly. I didn't quite know who this Master Yishu was, but the name _did_ ring a tiny bell. Oh, that was right; Master Yishu was famous for teaching various Masters and was almost as good a teacher as Master Shifu – at least that's what I've heard.

"Yes, I could only be trained by the best," the dragon replied proudly. I looked over at Po, who didn't seem to like what the dragon had just said – something I was sure none of us liked. The Storm Clan, the others and I all respected our Masters, since they were as good mentors, as they were and had been – hearing him talk, like they were nothing just… made me really angry.

"I'm sorry, but I think you miss the point of being a Kung Fu Master," Mantis told him with a growl. "Obviously you don't own modesty."

The dragon just turned his head away from Mantis with an arrogant "Hmm." and suddenly his feet left the ground and he hovered upwards towards Jade Palace. He could fly? Well, of course he was a dragon, but I had thought that he was a minor dragon or something, since he was as small as he was; I had always imagined dragons to be humongous and majestic.

"Man, what a jerk," I heard Jufeng mutter in an annoyed tone. "Just who does he think he is?"

"Don't know…" Monkey replied. "But I don't like who he think he is."

When the eleven of us finally made it to the top of the staircase, we were met by Master Shifu, the dragon and someone else - Master Yishu. Master Yishu was a little red fox, standing around the same height as Master Shifu. He had red fur all over, white fur on his muzzle and the tip of his tail, as well as some black on the tips of his ears. He wore a shining blue shawl, very similar to the jade green one Master Shifu wore. Come to think of it, he actually looked a lot like Junjie… but maybe that was just me.

"Come on in," Master Shifu simply said and nodded for both us and the Storm Clan to follow him inside. We entered the palace's gates and went straight for the Hall of Warriors.

When we entered, we saw that the dragon sat near the Dragon Pool. The dragon pool was a somewhat big pool at the end of the hall, which was pretty deep. Above it was a golden dragon statue, which housed the legendary Dragon Scroll in its mouth. The Dragon Scroll was, what had enabled Po to become the Dragon Warrior. After he figured out its power, which didn't exist, he was able to defeat Tai Lung, a rogue Master who had gone berserk and tried to destroy the Valley of Peace.

We had all thought that Tai Lung was gone, but back during the Millennium War, he, along with his so-called lover Jissai, had actually saved us from some soldiers. I remember how we were all very astonished to see him alive and all... but Hai had seemed to know that he was alive – maybe he had even had some kind of interaction with him and or Jissai... I remember he _did_ mention Jissai on more than one occasion.

We walked up to the dragon and sat down in front of him with around a meter and a half between him and us. Master Shifu and Master Yishu walked up and stood in front of the Dragon Pool, so that we all could see them.

"Students," Master Shifu started. "This is Master Yishu. He's a Kung Fu Master and teacher, just like myself. He and his student are here to help us."

"Master Shifu," Po started. "Before you continue… those guys who attacked us were…"

"… Members of Siwang Hu," Master Yishu finished the sentence. He then nodded, showing us that he knew about Siwang Hu. Suddenly he changed to a more dramatic tone. "But fear not; the hero to save all is here; the warrior to stand up and save the art of Kung Fu in times of distress."

Suddenly the dragon got to his feet. "I, Chikasha Tiandao, will make sure to defeat Siwang Hu and purify the world of its evil…"

"Hey, _we're_ here too," Monkey interrupted him, sounding kind of angry about hearing Chikasha talk as if he was the only warrior who could fight.

"Nonetheless, I have the skills to defeat anyone," Chikasha proclaimed proudly. "I have the strength to eliminate any foe… and the wind is my friend."

Suddenly the door to the Hall of Warriors was shot opened and a powerful gust of wind blew inside, which almost seemed to blow Mantis away. The wind carried a few pink cherry petals inside and they landed in the Dragon Pool, gently dancing on the surface. Then just as suddenly as it came, the wind disappeared and the door closed by itself it seemed.

"But what makes you so special?" Po asked. "I mean you're a dragon and all, which by the way is pretty cool... but really, do you have any rank or something?"

"As mentioned," Chikasha started in his usual arrogant tone of voice. "I am here to save the art of Kung Fu. For I am the…"

"No, really," Feng interrupted him. "What kind of guy are you? And how do we even know you're up to the task?"

"You should just know, little duck," he said. The way he called Feng 'Little Duck' was very arrogant and the tone of voice was almost making me want to grab him and throw him all the way down the staircase – he was even worse than Hai!

"Chikasha came from the heavens," Master Yishu explained proudly. "I taught him the art of Kung Fu, helping him develop the Celestial Dragon Style."

"The _Celestial_ Dragon Style?" Crane asked. "What makes it different from the Regular Dragon Style?"

"It requires great knowledge, experience and technique," Chikasha replied. "And it is superior in power and grace to the Regular Dragon Style."

"Of course that'd only fit the Greatest Warrior of the Millennium," Chikasha continued proudly. I noticed that Master Yishu seemed to be fine with having his student brag like another spoiled kid. I started to get an idea about why he wasn't in the Heavens anymore.

Wait, he said that he was the 'Greatest Warrior of the Millennium'… Hai was the Millennium Warrior, so what rank could he have that could possibly overcome Hai's? I mean, fighting and technique-wise, Hai wasn't that hard to overcome - unless he cheated - but his tittle was. What tittle could Chikasha have that could overdo Hai's? Wait...

"For I, Chikasha Tiandao, am…" No, he wasn't about to say it – it just couldn't be. But unfortunately: "… the Millennium Warrior."

* * *

*Gasp!* What a twist! lol. That dou-, I mean _guy _just said that he was the Millennium Warrior! But Hai is, so where the heck does he want to go with that? I think Master Yishu and Chikasha need to check Hai's facebook status - if any of them had one.

So even though this was a pretty short chapter, I hope you guys liked it! As always, please leave a review and I'll be back with a new chapter next week, bye! ^^


	4. Starting a New Journey

"WHAT?" everyone but Yishu and Chikasha asked confused. What had he just said? Was he supposed to be the _Millennium Warrior?_ What about Hai? Was it because Hai had given up on being the Millennium Warrior, and then this guy had seen it as an opportunity to take his place?

"Didn't you hear him?" Yishu asked somewhat surprised and annoyed. "He's the Millennium Warrior!"

"But…! Shifu, say something!" Po pleaded after some awkward silence where no one said anything. I was really happy that Po asked Master Shifu to say something, since Yishu and Chikasha would have to know about Hai.

"Eh… well, Master Yishu," Master Shifu started. "As much as all of us respect you and Chikasha…" The Storm Clan tried their best to keep from commenting on this. "… I'm sorry to inform you, but there _is_ already a Millennium Warrior."

Now it was Master Yishu and Chikasha's turn to look confused. The two looked like they had just seen someone fall from the moon; their faces were literally expressionless.

"But that is nonsense," Chikasha whimpered like another child. "I am the Millennium Warrior – no one surpasses my skills! I guess that is what you get for being late!"

"Being late? What are you babbling about now, you weirdo?" Feng asked confused. "Late for what?"

"I was supposed to be here two years before now," Chikasha explained. "I was _supposed_ to free China from a great threat. I was _supposed_ to be the greatest warrior of all times! I got out of course, but the problem seemed to go away."

"…" None of us knew what to say about this. Two years ago? That was around the time when Hai appeared for the first time! If Chikasha had appeared… would we even have met Hai; would Chikasha really have become the Millennium Warrior if he had gotten to us; and most important of all: would he really have been able to defeat Zhu? I actually didn't want to hear the answers to all these questions, but my subconscious couldn't help but ask them.

"The problems didn't go away," Monkey finally informed Chikasha. "We defeated it!"

"You defeated it?" Chikasha asked doubtfully. "Like you could do that without the Millennium Warrior!"

I looked at the others. Was it a good idea to tell him about Hai? How would he react? Already knowing that he was a spoiled dragon, I was sure that he would most likely start raging and complaining like another child who didn't get things the way he wanted. But wasn't it the right thing to tell him?

I quickly looked at Master Shifu with a face that asked whether or not we should tell Chikasha about Hai, but the old Master shook his head, not wanting to tell the dragon that the real Millennium Warrior was a pirate. I sighed and turned to Chikasha: "You're right… there was no Millennium Warrior before and the threat _did_ disappear indeed… very mysterious."

The others seemed ready to freak out, but when they saw Master Shifu's stern face, they kept their quiet, though not looking very happy. I didn't like lying, and I didn't quite understand why Shifu wanted me to… maybe because he was afraid that Chikasha and Master Yishu wouldn't take it well. Lying actually reminded me of Hai and doing something he was good at, only made me feel guiltier as it also reminded me of why he was gone.

"See?" Chikasha asked Monkey in a very cocky and arrogant tone of voice. "It _must_ have been that same threat, Siwang Hu that appeared back then!"

The others looked at me with very unhappy faces, since my comment had only made Chikasha cockier than he already was – if that was even possible. I actually regretted lying and wished that I had just let Master Shifu explain what there was to explain.

"So, how do you suggest we handle the situation?" Master Yishu asked Master Shifu and got back on track. Right, we had to find a way to destroy Siwang Hu and keep them from letting criminals team up.

"It'd be best to gather all the Masters once a-…" Master Shifu coughed to cover up the fact that he was about to say 'again'. "Sorry, I meant to say once all the Masters are ready."

"Are we really doing that again?" I heard Feng mutter, not amused by the thought of going through another great war – I'd heard that he nearly broke his wing during the Millennium War. At his comment, Fengbao stomped on his foot to make him shut up, which worked just fine.

"I have already received a few letters from the Extreme Eight and the Kung Fu Council," Master Shifu explained. "They're saying that they're gathering the nearest Masters in their areas."

"I suppose that we would have to meet up with them all," Chikasha said, sounding more strategic now – still arrogant though. "Then I would lead everyone into a battle with the minions and I would take on their great leader."

"Hey, what are we, old noodles?" Monkey asked annoyed. Yes, of course Chikasha would want to take on their leader all alone. We were all expecting a very arrogant answer as usual, but his answer truly surprised me.

"Do you not get it?" he asked somewhat annoyed – and very arrogant. "That is how it is meant to be… My name… is Chikasha…" Chikasha pointed towards the ceiling and pink cherry petals suddenly started raining down on us. "Tiandao… Governor of the Path of Heaven."

That was exactly what his name meant; Governor of the Path of Heaven. So his name was exactly what he was – from the Heavens. He might have been the biggest snob and stuck-up warrior I had ever met, but he was still from the Heavens… and apparently he wasn't sent here by mistake.

"Yes, that's all nice," Po replied after a short moment of silence as the cherry petals seemed to disappear. "But I still think we should fight alongside you – the more, the stronger the alliance."

Master Shifu nodded in agreement and turned to Master Yishu, telling him that that was how it should be. Soon we agreed that the Storm Clan would go into the nearby mountain villages, to see if there were any stray Masters, since they were clearly much faster than the rest of us combined.

"What about us, Master?" I asked as soon as the ninjas had disappeared in a flash. They seemed to be happy to get out of the same room that Chikasha was in, which I clearly understood.

"You and Chikasha can go meet up with Baozhai and her teammates," he told us. Great, Baozhai. Well, not that I have that much of a problem with her, but she really _does_ do things very differently from the way that we do it… besides, I can rarely agree on something with her. "They're in the den where Master Biyu lives."

"Right, let's go everyone!" Po said excited and upbeat and we got to our feet and started towards the door. But as we were almost there, a powerful gust of wind almost blew us off the ground, making us stop. Right when we had stopped, Chikasha jumped over us and landed in front of us.

"I always go up front," he said more arrogant than ever and started walking as he made the doors open by themselves. Of course he was so kind that he also made them close as soon as he was outside.

* * *

"Is he going to shut up soon?" Viper asked me in a whisper with a very annoyed tone as we continued down the mountain path. Chikasha was walking up front, talking about himself, his ancestors and his talents and abilities. He was so arrogant-sounding and caught up in it that he didn't even notice, the fact that none of us really wanted to listen to it.

"Doesn't sound like it," I whispered back with an annoyed sigh. Viper isn't the type who usually gets annoyed by the way other people are, so this was _really_ bad. "I can't believe we lost Hai for someone like him."

"Hah, me neither," Mantis said as he landed on my shoulder. "Hai wasn't even half that bad… not even close."

"… and then there was this time where I saved three villages in _one_ day," Chikasha continued in his usual cocky tone of voice. We had started out by taking turns to tell stories, just to kill time, but Chikasha had easily turned the table, so that it was only him talking, and so that we had no choice but to listen to his bragging. "I was up against _three-hundred_ warriors, but they were _no_ match for me!"

Soon we came to a forest. I recognized the area as the place where Hai had found a scroll that had been containing information about the Kung Fu Master Shanqu. We had just started our journey and the way Hai had found it, was by tripping over it. I slowed a little down and looked down on the ground. There, it was right there he fell onto his back – I remembered it like it was yesterday. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could just barely imagine a silhouette of Hai's little body. I guess I was just missing him.

"Shanqu's village should be nearby," Viper told Chikasha. Chikasha didn't seem to know who Shanqu was, but he just nodded. I guessed that Yishu hadn't bothered teaching him that there were other great warriors in the world, thus enlarging Chikasha's ego further.

We entered the forest and soon we were surrounded by trees, casting their shadows upon us. As we walked, I couldn't help but feel surveyed somehow. It wouldn't surprise me if some Siwang Hu members would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"Do you feel that?" Crane asked. "We're not alone."

"Of course not," Chikasha said in an ignorant and oblivious tone of voice. "The Millennium Warrior, the greatest warrior, is here; my greatness would only make it feel like there was several of me."

I just sighed, rolled my eyes and tried to ignore Chikasha as he started bragging again. But before I could even start ignoring him, something suddenly hit me, sweeping me off my feet.

My back was smashed against a tree with a massive sound and instinctively I punched away the attacker. A few feathers fell off of her body as I punched her backwards and took on a battle pose. I immediately recognized the dark gray feathers, the white ones around the face and the black, necklace-like pattern… and also the metallic wing-blades.

"Fenghuang," I growled as the others joined me by forming a circle around her. Something that surprised me was her new outfit. Instead of purple robes with a golden trim, she wore all-black robes with silver trims as well as 'Siwang Hu' in white on the right side of her chest. "What do you want?"

"I was sent here by the great leader to stop you," she said, sounding sneaky as ever. The great leader? Whoever it was, he or she must have been an evil mastermind if they wanted to gather just about any criminal and villain in China – like the many minions hadn't been enough. "Sorry Tigress, but I can't allow you and your friends to go any further."

I was about to attack her, but suddenly a lot – and I mean a lot as in at least fifty – minions appeared suddenly. They were all crocodiles, gorillas, wolves and wolverines, just like the ones we faced earlier. In an instant Fenghuang took off into the air and landed in a tree, just so she could watch as the many minions attacked us.

I punched a wolf in the face and just barely avoided getting mashed by a gorilla's massive punch. It was still appearing weird to me that Fenghuang had joined Siwang Hu – she had tried to get Jade Palace all to herself, so I had never really thought that she was that much of a team-person. But who knew who else had joined if she had? I was sure that Fung had joined, since his minions were part of the group we fought against at the moment. The wolves and gorillas had belonged to Lord Shen's army, but he was dead, so maybe that was why they were a part of Siwang Hu. Hai had freed them from Chorh-Gom Prison when he had had to escape himself, so maybe they needed a job or something. The wolverines were the remains of Lord Zhu's army and they had caused us quite a bit of trouble since Hai defeated Zhu and the Millennium War was won by the Kung Fu Masters who fought for liberty. Lord Zhu was in prison, so maybe they had freed him at some point... who knew? During the war, even Fenghuang had joined Hai and fought alongside him… obviously she hadn't turned good in any way because of that.

I kicked a wolverine in front of me away, then smashed both elbows backwards, hitting a crocodile and a wolverine in the stomach area in the process. I then jumped into the air and hit them both in the face with a massive cyclone kick. Even united, these were only simple minions and they were only superior in number.

As a gorilla attacked me, I prepared my hands in a fan-like fashion, staying calm as the large primate charged me. Finally he jumped into the air, ready to smash me with his massive knuckles. But before I could even perform my technique, a pink dash of scales hit him, sending him flying through several trees, breaking them down.

"Thanks," I told Chikasha, rather annoyed. "But I can fight myself."

He simply ignored my last comment and went in to fight against more minions. While the others did as well, I ran towards the tree Fenghuang was watching from. I charged it at full speed, then jumped into the air and used my claws to quickly climb the tree, eventually landing on the same branch as Fenghuang.

"What is Siwang Hu?" I growled at her, pointing the claws on my hands towards her, ready to strike if she tried anything. "And why does it gather people like you?"

"People like us?" Fenghuang asked, sounding kind of offended. "Remember that Hai is _no_ better than us – deep inside, you know it's true."

Hai? Why would she bring him up? Had he joined them? Why would he ever do that? No, Hai wouldn't do such a thing; if he joined an organization like Siwang Hu, he'd have to listen to authorities, which I knew he hated – he barely even listened to Master Shifu.

"Hai is different," I growled at her, mostly to convince myself. I didn't understand what she was talking about, but she had ignored my question completely. "Now answer me: What is Siwang Hu?"

An evil and sly chuckle escaped her throat. "Siwang Hu is everything. It's everywhere; Siwang Hu is nothing but destruction. No matter where you look, there's destruction."

Suddenly she pointed towards the trees that Chikasha had smashed the gorilla into. Yes, that was destruction, but what did that have to do with Siwang Hu? I turned my head again to look at her. "But destruction is…"

"… what makes the world go around," Fenghuang interrupted me. "Creation cannot come without destruction."

I said nothing at this. If Siwang Hu stood in for destruction, how come they had attacked us? Siwang Hu could only be evil; why else would it gather the members it had? Fenghuang almost made it sound like _they_ were the good guys.

"Who is the leader of all of this?" I asked to bring the, I guess you could call it conversation, on to something else.

"Who knows?" Fenghuang asked me, truly surprising me. She didn't even know who she was working for? Who would want to join a group and not know one's leader? It made no sense whatsoever, but before I could say anything, Fenghuang suddenly spun around in a few circles, then launched a blue orb of Chi Energy at me. The Thundering Wind Hammer – one of the Impossible Moves. The wave of Chi sent me backwards and I crashed into the wooden log of the tree, just barely avoiding falling down. I looked up and saw Fenghuang charge me with her metallic wing-blades. They were moving towards my head, but just before I got impaled by them, I ducked, so that Fenghuang impaled the tree instead.

I then kicked her in the chest area, sending her backwards. I then jumped towards her and attacked her with a punch, which she blocked with her wing-blades. Luckily it had been the flat sides, so I took no injury from the attack. Soon we went into a real fight. I would attack her and she would block and the other way around too. When she would try to slash em with her wing-blades, I would simply punch them away, hitting the flat sides of them.

Suddenly Chikasha landed on the tree between Fenghuang and me. He attacked her with a series of fast and powerful punches and kicks. It seemed that Chikasha wasn't only bragging; Fenghuang did seem to have quite a bit of trouble fighting back.

"Who are you?" Fenghuang asked when she finally managed to kick Chikasha in the chest.

"Chikasha Tiandao, the Millennium Warrior." Right after that, he went back into fighting against Fenghuang. But suddenly he ruined everything; he made a powerful thrust with his arm, but instead of hitting her, he simply held a hand out towards her. In an instant, a powerful gust of wind blew Fenghuang backwards, off the branch. I could tell that she was supposed to hit another tree, but she simply turned herself around midair and spread out her wings. Before you, or I for that matter, could yell "What are you doing?" she was gone.


	5. Finally Seeming to Open Up

We continued through the forest, none of us speaking a single word… not even Chikasha. The reason for that, was that after we had defeated the minions, I had, I guess you could call it scolded Chikasha for letting Fenghuang get away. Obviously he had never tried to hear anyone talk to him the way I had, so now he was insulted and didn't even want to look at the rest of us – not that any of us complained in the least.

I still couldn't help but wonder about and go through the things that Fenghuang had told me. Destruction was everywhere? That was all fine, but what did that have to do with their existence as Siwang Hu? The name meant the Death Ark, so they must have been doing much more than destruction to villages and such things. I had told the others about it, but Chikasha seemed to ignore it, as if he knew the truth behind everything – as if he knew everything.

"Maybe she knows where Hai is," Crane suggested as we walked. "Maybe she was hinting that we were close to finding him… maybe he isn't far away!"

Everyone seemed to become a little exited to hear this – maybe we could finally get our friend back! But of course Chikasha had to ruin the moment and ask: "Who is this Hai you are talking about all the time? Is he supposed to be worthier to be talking about than me?"

Everyone did their best to suppress the wanting to yell a loud 'yes' but instead Po simply said: "I guess not… but he's our friend…"

"Is that so?" Chikasha asked, still walking in front of us and not really sounding like he cared the least. Then he asked: "So tell me about this person whose name means 'The Sea'… what makes him so special?"

I looked at the others. What should we tell him – or rather: what should we _not_ tell him? Should we just say that he was the Millennium Warrior and also a wanted pirate? If we did, how would Chikasha take it? But instead I replied: "He's… a warrior too… a great one… but he disappeared some time ago."

"Is that so?" Chikasha asked in the same tone. We continued for a few minutes without talking. There was a long way to Biyu's little house, as it was located near Chorh-Gom Prison in Mongolia, far away. It would take days, maybe even weeks to reach it. "Tell me more."

He sounded like he actually cared about someone other than himself for once, so I did. I told him about how we had met him back when none of us trusted him; I told him about the way we had fought together and against each other from time to time. But I left out the details about Hai's historical meaning as the Millennium Warrior, since it might be best to let Chikasha believe that he was the Millennium Warrior himself.

"So why did he leave?" Chikasha asked. I was really surprised and I could tell that the others were as well – Chikasha actually cared! Well, maybe it was because I made it sound like Hai was a better warrior than Chikasha was – which I still think he is – and Chikasha wanted to know if he had any weaknesses…

"… Because… because… because we got into an argument," I finally said, feeling the skin on my face get warm under my fur.

"Is that so?" Chikasha asked. Actually, if I wasn't mistaken, there was a slight chuckle to his voice. But before we could start any real conversation for once, Chikasha started talking about his ancestors again. This time about an uncle who had supposedly been the advisor for an emperor many years ago. I rolled my eyes and drifted off into some whole different thoughts as we all kept walking, trying our best to not listen to Chikasha.

Was it really true what I had told Chikasha – that it was my fault that Hai was gone? It seemed like it. But why was such a fact so easy to admit around a jerk like Chikasha? Was it because Chikasha had taken over the role that Hai was supposed to have? Maybe this was meant to be – Hai would disappear and be replaced by Chikasha from now on. Who knew, maybe Chikasha would grow less arrogant as time went by… but then again – maybe he wouldn't. But to face these facts once again… I had gone over them inside my head numerous times and I always got back to this conclusion – Hai was gone, Chikasha was the real Millennium Warrior and that was it. Besides, how could a pirate with no knowledge of Kung Fu ever even be considered a possible Millennium Warrior?

As if he had somehow read my mind, Chikasha said: "But now I am here, so do not distress, retainers."

None of us said anything, which seemed to please Chikasha, but on the inside I thought that he might be right. No, I – we – couldn't just give up on Hai. No, he was probably just out to reflect on himself and I was sure that he would eventually be back – he had never given up before, so why do it just because he had had an argument with me? We had had that so many times before!

We continued for a few hours and we still hadn't reached our destination yet – there was a long way to Chorh-Gom prison – so we decided to stop for the night. After Chikasha had lit a fire by breathing onto some wood we had gathered, we went to look for some food – and by 'we' I mean everyone but Chikasha himself, of course.

"Do you really think Hai isn't going to come back?" I asked Po as we checked the little den we had decided to look in. I know I believed that he would, but I couldn't help but wonder what the others thought about it. Especially Po, since Hai was one of the few people who had a higher rank in the world of Kung Fu than he had.

"Why would you ask such a thing?" Po asked, almost sounding shocked. His sudden minor outburst surprised me greatly and the way that he answered right away too.

"… I…"

"Of course Hai would never leave us for good," Po continued before I could say anything. "Haven't you realized how much we've been through together? Why would he leave now? If he had ever wanted to leave, I'm sure he would have done it long ago."

It made me smile a little, since I knew that he was right. Then Po added: "Besides, I kind of feel like he enjoys arguing with you."

"Really, why do you think that?"

Po shrugged, as if he had realized how weird it sounded. If Hai enjoyed it, why would it seem to annoy him so much? "I don't know why… I just… know."

I just smiled and shook my head at my friend's weird theory and plucked a type of fungus that I knew was edible. There were many different types of funguses in this den, some of which could kill you if you ate them. As I collected a few more, Po seemed to have found some berries. From the looks of it, I recognized them as some very tasty ones, though the red color wasn't quite as prominent as usual, but maybe that was just because of the season.

* * *

Back at the camp we started preparing the food we had gathered. Most of it was berries, fruits, funguses and a few vegetables. While everyone else prepared the food over the fire, Chikasha had brought out a Guqin harp, which he seemingly had gotten from nowhere – how he had carried it along, I had no idea. He sat there by the fire and played a slow and somewhat soothing melody on it and even though it was annoying that he didn't help, it just showed that he could do other things than fight and be arrogant. I was actually quite impressed by his skills with the harp and soon we had prepared some dinner.

"What are these?" Chikasha asked as he started devouring some of the roasted funguses. "They are delicious."

"Thanks, Chikasha," Monkey said, seemingly surprised to get a compliment from the pink dragon. Maybe he just needed time – just like Po and Hai had before we accepted them. "They're just ordinary mushrooms."

"I have never tasted such a thing," Chikasha continued. He sounded like a child who had just tasted something new, which was also what he just had. This showed another new side of Chikasha – having been raised in the Heavens, he had probably never eaten any regular food from our world and who knew what fancy dishes Master Yishu had gotten him? "Good job, monkey."

"You're welcome… I guess," Monkey replied, though I could sense that he was annoyed by the fact that Chikasha had said 'monkey' as in what he was, not his name.

We continued eating for a while without speaking as the sun completely disappeared from the sky and was replaced by the moon and the stars. It was one of those clear and cloudless nights where you can literally see all of the skies and its stars.

"So, what is it like?" Viper suddenly asked Chikasha. "Heaven…"

"It is beautiful," Chikasha replied in an overdramatic tone of voice. "The sun is always shining, even when it is raining on Earth. The clouds are the most delightful ground you could wish for. But unfortunately I doubt that any of you would be able to live there."

"So, why is that?" Mantis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The sun," Chikasha replied. "Heaven is above the clouds and the sun is far stronger up there. Besides, the air is not the same as here. And you would need a certain weight to be able to stand on the clouds."

"But you don't even seem to weigh much more than I do," Monkey said, somewhat confused at the thing Chikasha had said about weight. Yes, true – Chikasha did seem to have just about the same weight as Monkey and I, so why wouldn't we be able to live there?

Suddenly Chikasha got to his feet. He put his left arm behind his back and pointed the index finger on his right hand upwards in a very dramatic pose. Suddenly he started hovering a few feet above the ground. "Perhaps you can do this too?"

We all looked over at Monkey who just sat there, probably feeling somewhat stupid for asking. I know I felt somewhat foolish for believing that we could ever be on a cloud.

Suddenly Chikasha hovered over and landed on top of Monkey's head. I immediately expected Monkey to collapse, but it didn't seem to make any difference from before.

"You're light as a feather!" Monkey said surprised when he realized that Chikasha stood on his head.

"Of course," Chikasha said, somewhat insulted. "One as graceful as me could only be light, is that not logical?"

I suppressed a sigh of annoyance as Chikasha went back to the personality we knew him for. Maybe it would be best to get closer to him with 'smaller steps', so to speak.

* * *

"Aren't we there soon?" Mantis asked with an annoyed sigh. We had been walking for two days now, but our destination still seemed far away. Chikasha had gotten a little nicer too – he had actually helped foraging a few times. (He was overly excited to touch a raw fungus for the first time in his life.)

"No," Crane replied, sounding a little annoyed at Mantis' impatience. Suddenly, in a shocked tone, Crane said: "Look, over there!"

We all looked in the direction he was looking in, and we saw a little unconscious figure lying by a tree. We rushed over to look at the person. He was lying on his stomach with his face against the ground, so we couldn't tell whoever he was. He seemed to be some kind of canine, covered in brownish gray fur all over and he wore some black robes with white trims, but they were very dirty – stained by mud and dust, so they came of as an earth-brown color.

"He's still alive," Monkey said after feeling around after a pulse. Suddenly the unknown person's body twitched, surprising us all. I quickly decided to turn him around so we could finally see who he was.

He had a long snout and black nose, as well as the pointy ears. But he also had a wound, which seemed to have been caused by a sword. It ran across his right eye and down towards his snout. But what scared me the most was the fact that I recognized the masculine facial traits… it was Shanqu.

* * *

Look, how coincidental - another cliffhanger! So... now that Chikasha is starting to open up... does this change your opinion about him? Does he seem like less of a jerk now? XD Either way, I'll see you next time, which might actually be in a few days, since my summer break's finally started and I have all the time in the world to be writing! :)


	6. The Other Side of Master Shanqu

"Come on, just a little more, we're almost there," Po said as we carried Shanqu through the forest. He was still somewhat unconscious and even with the combined powers of Po, Monkey and me was just barely enough. We all knew that the village he lived in was nearby, so if we could get him there, we could get him recovered, hopefully.

But why had Shanqu even been out there? He was barely alive when we found him, so what could possibly have happened to him? Had he been attacked by someone? If so, how come he had been injured so badly? I knew that Shanqu was a Kung Fu Master, just like the rest of us, so who could possibly have hurt him so badly… unless it was another Kung Fu Master. Come to think of it, Siwang Hu had Fenghuang and Junjie's students on their side, so maybe there were more 'Rogue Masters'.

On the way I could hear Shanqu mutter various things, but he was so weak that it was practically impossible to understand anything. Viper eventually told him to be quiet and save energy for an explanation once we got to the village. He seemed to be a little annoyed by the fact that she gave him orders, but eventually decided to let us carry him. Either that or he passed out.

Finally we got to a big clearing. The nearest houses were a little away from the forest and there was a magnificent mountain lake next to the village. I knew that Shanqu's house was located a little away from the main village, but maybe some of the villagers would let him rest in their house.

Crane hurried over to the nearest house and knocked the door as we carried Shanqu into the village. As soon as the door was opened, a sheep appeared. He was pretty short and was covered in white, fluffy and wooly fur all over. He seemed very surprised to see us, as he most likely didn't know us, but he almost seemed ready to faint when he saw Shanqu – obviously the villagers were actually afraid of him.

After Crane had asked, the sheep shook his head and was about to close the door, but Chikasha's foot hindered it. Suddenly a powerful wind blew past us and into the house and suddenly the door was literally ripped open, as if there had been an invisible hand that had shoved it open.

Chikasha pushed Crane aside gently, yet hard. He then brought his left clenched fist into the air. "Bow before my fist." Suddenly Chikasha snapped his fingers and the sound was much louder than expected. I looked at the sheep, who stared at Chikasha, almost looking hypnotized. Suddenly the sheep bowed down before Chikasha and fully opened the door and Chikasha signaled for us to step inside and walked inside himself with his hands behind his back in a very formal manner. The rest of us followed suit and soon we had placed Shanqu in the sheep's bed, which seemed to be relatively big, at least compared to how big he was himself.

Viper and I let the men – save for Chikasha – remove Shanqu's clothes so that they could clean all of his wounds properly. Meanwhile, we prepared some ointment made from plants, which would help healing Shanqu's wounds.

"It's strange," Viper said as we worked the plants.

"Yes, it is," I replied as we mixed the boiled water with the plants. "I wonder who attacked him and why…"

"No, I mean the man's reaction to seeing Shanqu," Viper said, surprising me a little, since I thought that we had been taking about the same thing. But she was right – there was definitely something wrong about that reaction. He protected their village, so wouldn't they be more grateful and willing to help him?

* * *

"So how is he doing?" the sheep asked in a worried tone of voice. I was unsure whether it was because he was worried about Shanqu or if he was still afraid of him. Monkey and Po had put ointment on Shanqu's wounds and Mantis had also requested for us to make him some kind of medicine from a few plants – a tea of some sort. If we hadn't had Mantis along, I don't know what would have happened to Shanqu otherwise without Mantis' knowledge of medicine.

"He'll survive," Crane told him. We all sat in the sheep's living room and Chikasha had of course invaded the poor man's house and gotten all of us to serve him some tea. The sun was starting to rise and we had all been trying to help with Shanqu's treatment all night, just in order to assure survival.

Mantis nodded. "He has taken some serious damage, but the ointment will help him recover."

"Actually," Viper started after a few seconds of silence. "I've been wondering… why didn't you want to let us in at first?"

The sheep looked down at his feet and didn't say anything. He almost looked like he was afraid that Shanqu would hear what he said, but before anyone could say anything, Chikasha snapped his fingers once again, making the sheep start. "Well… to tell you the truth, Shanqu is a cruel man. He protects us, sure, but he is still so scary… when a criminal appears, Shanqu always – and I mean _always_ – beats them up to the point where he almost kills him before sending him to Chorh-Gom."

A few seconds went before the sheep had realized what he had just said. He grabbed his mouth with one hand, as if he was afraid that other information might come out by itself. Whatever Chikasha did with his fingers, I was impressed… actually I don't even want to know how he does.

"Hmm… haven't anyone complained?" Po asked. He also seemed to be very surprised at all of this, just like I was. Shanqu had saved us once during the Millennium War, but this was a whole new side of him, which I had never seen before.

"No!" The sheep said as if it was the most logical question in the world. Actually it kind of was: when they were as afraid of him as they were, how would they ever be able to gather the courage to complain to him?

"Okay, sorry," Po said and held up his hands as if he surrendered.

"Do you know who did that to him?" I asked the sheep, just to change the subject.

"No, not exactly," he said and rubbed his chin. "But I do remember them wearing an emblem with _Siwang Hu_ on it."

The others and I exchanged eye contact. Siwang Hu really was serious! This was bad. If they had almost been able to kill Shanqu, what could possibly happen if they returned? I took a decision right then and there. "Maybe we should stay here and protect the village. If they return, the villagers will have a very poor chance of…"

"I'm sorry, but obviously you don't understand," the sheep interrupted me. I stopped talking and we all looked over at him. "But Siwang Hu is only after Kung Fu Masters. People like me are safe as long as we don't interfere with what they're doing."

"On that note, maybe it'd be best if we just left now," Monkey said. But eventually he changed his mind. "But what about Shanqu? He wouldn't even be able to defeat a radish in his current condition."

"No, that's true…" Crane said as he obviously tried to make up a plan. Suddenly one came to him. "What if… what if we split up?"

"No, how can you suggest a thing like that?" Viper squeaked surprised. "If we stay together, we'll be able to stand against stronger foes and…"

"Viper he's right," I interrupted her. "If one half stays here and protects Shanqu, the rest of us can keep going."

"Okay," Viper said, finally surrendering. Now we just needed to decide who would stay and who would move on.

"I'll stay," Mantis said. "He needs someone to look after his wounds after all."

"I'm staying too," Crane said after thinking for a while. "I think it'd be best that way."

"Viper?" I asked and looked at my friend. I could tell that she was split between staying and coming along. I understood why – she just wanted us all to stay together, but now that we had to split up she didn't know what to do.

"I… I'll stay then," she said, finally making up her mind. "We need a little bit of reasonability here after all."

"Hey, I don't know if those scales are blocking your hearing, but _I_ also decided to stay," Crane said, though I was able to tell that he was just joking.

"Okay, then it's settled," I said, sighing a little at the fact that we all had to separate. "Po, Chi-…" I was interrupted by an annoyed 'Ahem'. "I mean, Chikasha, Po, Monkey and I are going."

"That is all nice," Chikasha said and kind of ruined the moment with his annoying tone of voice. "But we should all rest now and wait for tomorrow, since I am feeling rather tired."

The next day the others and I prepared to leave. We had slept most of the previous day, due to the fact that we had stayed up for more than an entire day and night. We had been provided with a bag of food from the villagers, which I gave Monkey the privilege of carrying. Our goodbye had been pretty short, and not really that emotional and sentimental, since we all knew that we would meet again.

"I'm still a little worried," Po said as we walked along a mountain path. "This Siwang Hu thing is creeping me out; I mean, if they're attacking Kung Fu masters, was it really safe to split up?"

"Fear not retainers," Chikasha said in his usual arrogant tone of voice. "With my bare fist, I will defeat anyone who dares to cross our path."

"That's great, but really – we're all equal," Monkey told Chikasha before he could continue with his long speech. "We can beat the baddies together."

"If you so desire," Chikasha said as we kept walking. "But as the Millennium Warrior, I can only be destined for greater things."

And on that note, we continued our journey across the land. Most of the journey went fine. We did just like we had before we split up – we'd make a campfire every night and eat a little of the supplies that we had gotten from the villagers. Chikasha's personality still seemed to change by the time we set up a camp, as if his arrogance disappeared with the sun when it went down in the horizon. But it was actually kind of fun to see when we taught him various stuff, such as how to create fire with the help of wood itself instead of fire breathing.

"We're there soon," Monkey said. He was right. The climate had gotten severely colder and there were less vegetation as we continued. When we would get to Master Biyu's house, she would help us gather allies to stand against Siwang Hu. That was if they hadn't gotten to her before us. If they had, there weren't many options left. Chorh-Gom Prison was the nearest civilization, so that would be our only place to get any help. Siwang Hu actually seemed to be more powerful than we had all expected.

On the third day on the journey, we came to a little village. None of us had previously been there before, so we were all a little hesitant on taking a break there.

When we eventually decided to, it turned out that the village looked pretty normal. The villagers were all wearing big cloaks, which seemed a little weird, but it was somewhat understandable, since it was relatively cold in the village. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that we could not see their faces – something was not right about this village.

"Guys, we should turn around," Monkey said. "I don't like this place."

"Me neither," Po said. "Tigress, we should…"

But Chikasha didn't pay attention. He was foolish enough to walk over to a stand, which sold wok and ask for some food. Next thing we knew, a metallic chain shot through the air and ensnared Chikasha. The rest of us dashed towards the pink dragon to help, but suddenly a big net was thrown at us from above. There were heavy metallic parts on the edge of it and it was almost too heavy to lift. But before we could get it off, some villagers formed a circle around us. Suddenly they all grabbed their cloaks and ripped them off, revealing who they really were – wolves that had belonged to Lord Shen's army.

"I told you we should have left," I heard Monkey mutter annoyed, at which I just sighed in annoyance.

* * *

Sigh... Am I losing my spark? I mean, I used to leave you guys off with tormenting cliffhangers, but I kind of feel like the last ones haven't been too successful or dramatic... or is it just something that I feel like? Please tell me, and I'll see you next time! :)


	7. Getting Closer to the Climax, Siwang Hu

"Okay, all of you; get in!" the wolf growled and pushed Po, Chikasha and I forwards and all the others could do was to follow… except Mantis, who was trapped inside a little cage – again. The Siwang Hu minions had led us to some kind of volcano, but I was not sure about our exact location. The volcano was big and even if we couldn't see it, the scorching lava of the volcano radiated a strong heat in the area.

Suddenly I realized something; there was a gate in front of us… that was what the wolf had told us to enter! But what was behind it? Suddenly a creaking sound was heard as the metallic gate was opened. None of us could do anything but enter, and it was then that I realized where we were.

"Wu Fortress," Viper gasped behind me. Yes, the infamous Wu Fortress, home for the fearsome Wu Sisters. But they were locked in prison, so why had they taken us here? Had Siwang Hu taken over the fortress, now that the Sisters were gone? It would make sense if they had. After all, I had expected a big organization like Siwang Hu to have some kind of fortress. _I wonder what would happen if the Wu Sisters heard that their fortress had been stolen._

I looked over at Po. He seemed to be fascinated by being inside the legendary Wu Fortress… he didn't even look scared, which worried me a little; Po should be more awake and less excited in a situation like this!

"Wow, the Wu Fortress!" Po said excitedly as we entered it. I sighed at his excitement. He then turned to the wolf that walked up front. "But, eh… why did you Siwang Hu guys steal the Wu Sisters' place?"

"Hah, you'll see," a wolverine that walked next to Monkey replied with a snicker. We were pushed further into the fortress' main gates. Soon we came to a big room in which I was sure. There were tall pillars and big leopard statues in this room, as well as some kind of alter… at least that was what it looked like. It just turned out to be a sight elevation. On the sides of the stair that led up to the elevation, there were two big torches and on the elevation itself, there was a table and around it sat… some very familiar faces.

First up there was Fung, whose minions had joined Siwang Hu. He was a crocodile just like them, but wore some different clothes, in two ways. The first way was that they differed from his minions' and the second way, was that they were different from what he usually wore; now he wore some white and expensive-looking robes with golden trims, matching all the other Siwang Hu members we had seen this far.

And then there was a very slimly built feline. At first I would have thought that it was Hai, but it turned out to be a much unexpected person: Su Wu herself.

She wore some black clothes with white trims and to describe her looks… well, she was menacing to look at, just to be fairly honest. She had brown fur all over, just like Hai, but she also had darker brown spots all over, unlike Hai, who also had stripes. But her face… Her eyes were different; one was normal and had a yellowish color, but the other… Her left iris was very light gray, almost to the point of being white. Whatever had caused her eye to look like that, it couldn't have been a pleasing experience.

The guards led us up to the two. Seemingly they had been playing chess, but it seemed like Su had outsmarted Fung, which wasn't much of a surprise.

"Lady Wu, Sir Fung, we bring you the Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior and this pink thing," the wolf added as we faced the two. Lady Wu I could understand, but Sir Fung just sounded wrong in so many ways to me… Fung had always seemed like anything but honorable and intelligent and hearing someone call him Sir was out of place. Oh, and maybe I should mention that they had blocked off Chikasha's mouth with a rope; on the way here, he had complained about anything possible and if they hadn't, he would have started again after being called a 'pink thing'.

"Splendid," Su Wu said and got up. She stood there for a moment and inspected the seven of us for a moment. She then turned to Po: "So you're the legendary Dragon Warrior?"

"Yes, I guess," Po replied. Then he asked: "Why are these guys even here in your fortress?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Fung asked. "Like me, she's now a part of Siwang Hu!"

"Po, how could you not tell?" Mantis asked from his little cage. I could only agree with him; after all, all the Siwang Hu members' outfits all matched.

"Why?" Po asked her skeptically.

"Isn't that obvious too?" Su asked with a snicker. "Might… what else could make me want to join this freak show?"

Yes, why else would she even _want_ to join Siwang Hu? But I was sure that there was another plan behind it. For starters, where were her sisters? Were they also in Siwang Hu? If they were, where were they now? Were they somewhere else with some other members? And the most important question: Were the Wu Sisters planning to betray the leader of Siwang Hu at some point, and take over the organization? If the organization had members from all of China, it would be an easy way to conquer the entire country!

"Guards, you may leave… and you too, Fung," Su said sternly, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Hey, where am I supposed to go?" Fung asked annoyed. "This fortress only has this room, the bedrooms, the dungeon, the treasure chamber, the… You know what, Su? Never mind!"

And with those final words, the guards left the fortress and went outside, while Fung disappeared off to another room. We all patiently waited for Su to do whatever she had intentions of doing.

"You know… you can still make it," Su said and started walking back and forth in front of us, which Po would describe as "Like a real villain!" She continued: "It's not too late?"

"What's not too late?" Crane asked skeptically. Whatever Su was talking about, it probably wasn't anything nice.

"You joining Siwang Hu, that's what's not too late," Su replied with a snicker. Suddenly something landed on top of her head. Su quickly brushed it off and it softly landed on the ground… it was a cherry petal. As more petals stated raining down, we all suddenly realized that Chikasha was gone. "Hey, where'd the pink guy go?"

I looked to my left and saw that all there was left of him was the chains they had used to shut him up… That jerk; he had just left without us! This was just perfect – now we were going to rotten up in some dungeon, while Chikasha went out and played hero. Just perfect.

Suddenly something flew through the main gate to the fortress. At first I kind of thought that it was Chikasha who had returned to actually save us, but no it wasn't – the gate had been destroyed by whoever flew through and it turned out to be a wolf, one of the guards. But to our surprise, the next person who casually walked inside with his arms on his back was… Chikasha! For once he was actually not acting by his ego!

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but I and my friends are leaving," Chikasha said casually as he reentered the fortress. Wait, he just called us 'friends'…

"Not on my account," Su growled and called for the guards, but there was no response.

"Sorry, but seems your guards are not immune to fire," Chikasha said and spat out a little ring of fire.

"You burned them to death?" Viper asked shocked, immediately catching Chikasha's hint in her own way.

"No, not entirely," he replied calmly, even though I could sense that he had been using fire in some fashion… though I was unsure of how he had done it and what he had incinerated. "But we're leaving now."

Suddenly Chikasha did a few wild slashes with the claws on his hands, then finally struck a battle pose. Suddenly the ropes and chains that held us captured fell to the ground. Chikasha casually turned around and was about to leave and we were about to follow, but suddenly Su took off and jumped over us and landed between us and the exit. "Do you really think that we'd let you go that easy?"

Su extended her claws and took on a battle stance. We stopped. We all knew that getting past Su Wu herself would be a big challenge – she was infamous for a reason and she was also known for her fighting skills.

Suddenly Fung reentered accompanied by a few of his minions and we would have to take out them both in order to escape. Eventually we split up; Po, Chikasha and I took on Su, while the others had to take on Fung and his minions. I jumped towards her with my claws out and ready to slash her, but unfortunately she dodged and tried to punch me in the face. Luckily I managed to block the attack and soon Chikasha attacked her with a powerful kick, knocking her aside.

But before we could count to two, Su countered us with a powerful slash with her sharp claws. The three of us jumped to the side and soon Po delivered a strong punch to her, but she blocked that too and hit him with a kick in the stomach, and soon she kicked Chikasha in the chest, but he didn't even seem to feel anything. After that he took in a deep breath and suddenly flames emerged from his mouth.

Po and I just barely managed to dodge, but so did Su. By just an inch, the sleek leopardess managed to tackle me as I covered my face to keep the flames from burning it. Suddenly I felt her body slam me and we both flew towards a wall.

I hit the wall hard, and for a short moment I actually thought that I would fly through it. I opened my eyes again and saw Su holding me by the shoulders. She had been slamming me towards the wall with all her strength and the impact was anything but pleasant… but I survived at least.

"Stop!" Su told the others as they were about to help me. The two stopped up, though Chikasha still seemed ready to attack at any second. Suddenly I noticed that Su was holding me by the throat, her claws slightly poking into my skin. "If you move, I'll kill her."

I looked at Po and Chikasha and signaled for them to do something, but they hesitated. Suddenly Chikasha charged Su at full speed with no hesitation and before I knew it, he had kicked the leopardess in the head, sending her flying.

I fell to the ground and looked up as Chikasha jumped into the air. Su had just barely regained balance on her legs when Chikasha descended towards her with a massive jump-kick. The kick hit her in the chest area and she literally flew into a wall.

"Thanks," I told Chikasha when he stood upright again. I looked over at where Su had passed out on the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a leopardess-shaped mark in the wall.

"Chikasha, that was freaking epic!" Po said. Yes, sure his jump had been incredibly high and such, and sure he had managed to knock her out with a kick.

"Just standard," Chikasha said calmly and made an upwards-moving hand gesture. "Let us get out of here."

"But what do we do with her? Do we just leave her here?" Po asked worried as I turned to see that Crane, Viper, Mantis and Monkey had managed to defeat all the minions too, as well as Fung himself.

"Why should we not?" Chikasha asked as if it was logical enough. Maybe we shouldn't just leave her on the floor; if we did she would wake up sooner or later, and still be a threat towards us and the world…

"Because there's still the chance that she might return," Viper said, confirming my suspicion. "We should bring her along…"

"Bring her along?" Mantis asked, looking very disturbed by the thought. "Why don't we just tie her up or something?"

"Agreed, who's got a chain or something?" Monkey asked and looked around. Viper sighed at their idea, but eventually agreed. Soon we had tied Su to one of the thought struck my mind. What if the great leader had also gotten Hai on his side? After all, Hai had been kind of angry with us, and when Hai got angry, he was never controllable… besides, he could never really think straight when he was. But if he was a part of Siwang Hu… no, Hai wasn't evil, he simply couldn't be a part of an organization like that. But still… there was still something that told me that Hai had some kind of relation to Siwang Hu.

"Tigress, are you coming?" I blinked a few times and turned towards Viper and realized that the others were already leaving.

"Oh… yes, of course," I replied and followed the others. Up front, Po adored Chikasha's fighting and Chikasha was seemingly enjoying it. The others didn't speak, but suddenly I randomly said: "We need to find Hai."

* * *

Okay, I'm starting to feel like my chapters are getting somewhat boring... All I managed to make here was a random fight and that was it... _Am_ I starting to bore you here, or is it just me? Please tell me... Oh well, I'll see you guys later! :D


End file.
